Pond Maintenance in Charlotte, NC

Lily pads spread from thick underground rhizomes, so cutting the leaves only slows them down. Small patches can be controlled by repeatedly removing leaves or pulling rhizomes by hand or with a rake, but large stands usually need either mechanical removal or an herbicide labeled for aquatic use, applied according to its label. Treating a whole pond at once can cause decaying plants to use up oxygen and stress fish, so treatment is usually done in sections. Leaving some cover is fine — a balanced pond often keeps a portion of its surface in lilies.

Copper-based algaecides do kill many types of algae, but they need care. Copper becomes more toxic to fish in soft water with low alkalinity, and koi, trout and grass carp are especially sensitive, so the label dose has to be matched to the pond's water chemistry. As with any treatment, killing a lot of algae at once can lower oxygen as it decays, so ponds are often treated in portions. For recurring algae, reducing nutrients from lawn fertilizer and runoff and adding aeration addresses the cause rather than treating symptoms.